Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Washington-Capitals

I asked Bruce Boudreau if he had any thoughts on Alexander Semin’s comments about Sidney Crosby.

“I thought that was the biggest comment I’ve seen from him in three years,” Boudreau said. “I’m just glad to see he’s talking. Obviously, you don’t want top give anybody [bulletin board] stuff. But he said it. If it might mean he’s coming out of his shell a little bit, then good for him.”

“Not good for him that those comments were made,” he added. “I think Crosby is unbelievable. I think he is a great player and all of those things. But it was also through an interpreter, so it could have been taken out of context….”

George McPhee leaned forward in his chair, squinted his eyes and focused on the performance that was unfolding before him. Except on this Wednesday night, the performers weren’t hockey players and McPhee, the general manager of the Washington Capitals, wasn’t sitting in a suite high above the ice. Instead, he was in a classroom at Georgetown University grading the midterm projects of 44 students in his graduate-level sports management class.

The Washington Capitals GM is teaching eight classes this semester. I think my favorite line in the article comes from one of McPhee’s students, who remarked “It’s like learning to play basketball from Michael Jordan” which, it occurs to me, might not be the best analogy… (edit: actually, I change my mind. I was thinking about that quote in the wrong way, equivocal to “...learning to play hockey from George McPhee.” Which obviously isn’t what was meant. Whoops!)

Six months ago, Kelly Black ran into the Washington Capitals head coach at Ballston Common Mall—where the team holds public practices—and invited him to join her kids and her best friend for lunch. “Can’t right now,” he told them. “Next time.”

Without a doubt Fedorov is the best all-around Russian forward who has ever played in the NHL. Early in his career I believed I saw greatness in the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder. He was drafted by the Red Wings in the 1989 NHL Entry draft, taken in the fourth round with the 74th overall pick. It wouldn’t take him long to reach a breakout season.

To make his way to the NHL he had to defect from the then Soviet Union. He did so in 1990 while in Seattle to play in the Goodwill Games with CSKA Moscow on a line with two other future NHL stars, Mogilny and Pavel Bure.

Theodore’s recent track record is nowhere near as consistent as Ovechkin’s, but he is through the hard part of the acclimation process now and the Caps are still leading the Southeast Division. From here on out, he’ll continue to build a rapport with the Caps defensemen when he plays pucks in his own zone. He’ll start to put the nerves behind him and start to eliminate those soft goals. And he’ll benefit from an improved defensive corps.

Would it surprise you to learn that a certain Russian forward named Alex with the Washington Capitals currently leads the NHL in scoring?

No, not that Alex, the other one.

Alex Ovechkin is the reigning Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner, but the Washington winger is mired in a six-game goal drought and has only tallied a meagre five points through the first eight games of the season.

Lucky for the Capitals, though, that Alex Semin is scoring in bunches.

Alexander Ovechkin, the NHL’s leading goal scorer last season, has returned to Moscow to be with his ailing grandfather and will miss the Washington Capitals game Tuesday against the Nashville Predators.

With the two Alexes – Ovechkin and Semin – leading the charge, the Washington Capitals might be the greatest show on the ice right now, the heir apparent to the swashbuckling Edmonton Oilers of the mid-1980s. If that’s the case, then defenceman Mike Green is the 21st-century equivalent of Paul Coffey in style and approach – one of half-a-dozen promising young rearguards who will get a long look from the management staff of Canada’s 2010 Olympic team. Green plays a high-risk, high-reward style. Most nights, he is a defenceman in name only and plays almost as a fourth forward.

This is done with the permission of his coach Bruce Boudreau who, since taking over the reins of the Capitals last December, loosened them considerably on all of his young players. Now, instead of making a defensive choice on a 50-50 puck battle, they have permission to err on the offensive side. Some nights, it backfires, but on balance, it generally works.

The question was put to Tyler Sloan as he sat in the far corner of the Washington Capitals dressing room, a few stalls to the right of Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Semin and hockey’s most dynamic force, Alexander Ovechkin: If someone made a movie out of your career, what would they call it?

Sloan smiled as he undid his skates. Cinderella Man, he replied.

Indeed, his saga is the feel-good story of this early NHL season.

It’s the tale of a 27-year-old career minor-leaguer who finally gets his shot in the NHL.